
(lass. 
Book. 



HUGH CLIFFORD 



PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS/ 




FORTH-WEST COAST, 



AND AT THE 



WASHINGTON ISLANDS. 



BY THE AUTHOR OF 

Conversations on the Sandwich Islands Mission, Claims of the 
Africans, fyc. fyc. 



" Jesus shall reign where'er the sun 
Does his successive journeys ruu ; 
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore, 
Till moons shall wax and wane no more. 




REVISED BY THE PUBLISHING COMMITTEE. 



BOSTON : 

MASSACHUSETTS SABBATH SCHOOL UNION: 

Depository, 47 Cornhill. 



1832. 



E78 
M1TT9U 



Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 185^, 

By Christopher C. Dean, 
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. 



/jl?jt 



PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 
PART I. 

CHAPTER I. 

" Sing to the Lord with joyful voice ; 
Let every land his name adore ; 
The Northern coasts shall send the noise 
Across the ocean, to the shore." 

Those children who have read the c Con- 
versations on the Sarulwich Islands Mission,' 
will be pleased to hear more about Mrs. Bar- 
ton and her agreeable family. 

During the life time of Dr. Barton, much 
of the care of the family and government of 
the children devolved upon Mrs. Barton, for 
the professional calls of her husband left him 
but little time to bestow upon their instruction. 
He was a man of deep and consistent piety, 
and encouraged his excellent wife to perse- 
vere in training up their children to habits of 
self-denying benevolence, industry, and strict 
subordination. 

1 



6 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 

After the removal of this truly good man, 
and wise parent, Mrs. Barton felt increasing 
anxiety for the future welfare of her rising 
family, and wishing to follow out the plan 
which her husband had laid for her, she made 
a point of keeping all her children constantly 
occupied in useful employment, study, or 
healthful play. Her conversations on subjects 
connected with the American Mission to the 
Sandwich islands, had given them an eager 
desire for missionary accounts, and Jane and 
Robert often reminded her of her promise to 
tell them about Mr. Green's exploring tour to 
the North West coast. Anxious to make 
them better acquainted with geography, as 
well as to keep up an interest in missionary 
movements, she commenced the performance 
of her promise as follows : 

Mr. Green, you will undoubtedly remember, 
was one of those missionaries who sailed for 
the Sandwich islands, from Boston, Dec. 3, 
1827, with instructions to improve the earliest 
opportunity of making a voyage to the North 
West coast, to ascertain the moral condition 
of the Indians, and to select a suitable place 
for a missionary establishment, in case the 
Prudential Committee of the American Board 
of Missions thought it expedient to fit out one. 



PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 7 

After remaining some time at Lahaina, on 
the island of Maui, Mr. Green took passage 
with captain Taylor, in the barque Volunteer, 
on the thirteenth of February, 1829. At the 
end of twenty-five days, the snow-clad hills 
of the western coast of North America, were 
distinctly seen. The tenth of March, the ship 
cast anchor in Norfolk sound, and Mr. Green 
commenced his inquiries with the most 
anxious desire that through his instrumentality 
the poor Indians might be induced to seek and 
find the living and true God. 

Captain Taylor was engaged in trade, and 
in the pursuit of his object he coasted down 
south from Norfolk sound, about four de- 
grees. The ship touched at all the ports in 
this range, and usually stopped two or three 
days at each, which afforded Mr. Green a 
fine opportunity to learn the state and condi- 
tion of the various tribes of Indians inhabiting 
that district. 

Helen Barton. Four degrees, that would 
make two hundred and forty miles extent of 
country. How rrfany tribes of Indians did 
Mr. Green find in that distance ? 

J\lrs. Barton. Ten, which he classed into 
three divisions ; each division speaking a dis- 
tinct language. 



8 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 

Jane Barton. What are the names of the 
three classes? 

Mrs. B. The Sit-ka, Nass, and Skid-e- 
gass ; the last five on Queen Charlotte's 
island, which you will find on the map of 
North America, a little north of Queen Char- 
lotte's sound. That island is the most mild, 
pleasant, and fruitful part of the coast that Mr. 
Green visited. The north west coast of 
America is a dreary part of the world; much 
of it is rocky and barren. 

Ann Barton. And extremely cold, mother, 
is it not ? 

Mrs. B. No, it is not ; though it is very 
chilly, occasioned by the dampness of the at- 
mosphere. There is much rain and hail, but 
the snow seldom fails deep. Doubtless you 
wish me to describe the places visited by Mr. 
Green. 

" We do, mother, we do." 

Mrs. B. One of the most important is 
New Archangel. Here the Russians have a 
settlement, defended from the Indians by a 
fort. The buildings are poor, being mostly 
constructed of logs, plastered and painted ; 
even the house of the Russian governor is 
built in this manner. 

Jane. Are there no Indians at Archangel, 
mother ? 



PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 9 

Mrs. B. Yes; the Sit-ka tribe has built 
a village under the guns of the fort, so that 
the Russians can easily defend themselves 
from their encroachments, and at the same 
time protect the poor Indians from their neigh- 
boring foes, for most of the tribes are often 
engaged against each other in fierce and 
bloody wars. 

Robert. What could induce the Russians 
to settle in such a gloomy place, among a 
savage people ? 

Mrs. B. I know of but two objects capa- 
ble of alluring men to leave a civilized country, 
and take up their abode in such a desolate 
and obscure corner of the earth. One is the 
acquisition of wealth, and the other a benevo- 
lent desire to offer the means of salvation to 
those who are perishing in their sins. These 
Russian settlers are mostly engaged in the 
'fur trade, and when the animals that furnish 
the skins are all destroyed, or driven away, 
they will probably remove ; and unless Chris- 
tian missionaries go, there will be no foreigners 
among the Indians. 

Robert. The missionaries have already 
carried the Bible almost over the whole world, 
mother, hav'nt they ? 

Mrs. B. No, my son ; though it is more 
than eighteen hundred years since the blessed 
1* 



10 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 

Saviour said to his disciples, " Go ye and 
teach all nations, baptizing them in the name 
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost ;" yet the pure light of his gospel 
shines only upon a small portion of the globe. 
Not one of those ten tribes of Indians, visited 
by Mr. Green, have any saving knowledge of 
Christ, unless through the instrumentality of 
his instructions. 

Robert. The pure gospel shines upon the 
Sandwich islands, and the Society islands, 
(looking earnestly on his map,) and does it 
not shine on all the islands in the Pacific 
ocean ? 

Mrs. B. No ; that ocean is all over 
sprinkled with islands, whose inhabitants are 
involved in the grossest ignorance, supersti- 
tions, and vices. 

Jane. Do tell us about them. 

Mrs. B. I am now engaged in telling you 
about the North West coast ; but when cousin 
Hugh Clifford comes to spend vacation, I pre- 
sume he will tell you all you wish to know. 

Lucy. I feel quite interested about the 
Indians, and hope you will not be interrupted 
again, mother ; have you learned how many 
there were within the districts Mr. Green 
examined ? 

Mrs. B. Some of the traders have esti- 



PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 11 

mated them at about fifteen thousand ; most of 
them reside on the coast ; very little is known 
of those living in the interior, for whenever 
they approach the coast, they are attacked 
and driven back again. It is thought by 
many, that the number of Indians is decreas- 
ing every year. 

Lucy. From* what cause ? 

Mrs. B. By war, intemperance, and 
profligacy. Several years ago the small pox 
carried off great numbers. 

Helen. Are they like those Penobscot 
and Narragansett Indians that I have seen, 
mother ? 

Mrs. B. In some particulars they are like 
those and other tribes in the United States ; 
especially in their long black hair, and high 
cheek bones ; but their complexion is lighter. 
They are extravagantly fond of ornaments in 
their ears and noses, and all who can procure 
beads, wear a profusion of them around their 
necks and ancles. In addition to all these, the 
females wear another ornament of extraordinary 
size, in the under lip, which they call a steetgar. 
It is an oval piece of wood, hollow on both 
sides, with a groove around the edge to re- 
ceive the divided lip. This wooden orna- 
ment is at first small, but as the orifice en- 
larges, the size is increased, till at last one is 



12 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 

worn that will measure three inches in length, 
and one and three quarters in breadth. It 
gives them a hideous appearance to strangers, 
but adds vastly to their beauty in the eye of 
a native. 

" How is it possible such a great hole can 
be made in the under lip?" said Robert, pull- 
ing out his own lip. 

Mrs. B. They begin by thrusting through 
it a large wire with a head on it, to keep it 
from dropping out ; and by degrees it enlarges 
till it is capable of receiving the great wooden 
lip I have described. They are so extrava- 
gantly fond of paint, that if they cannot ob- 
tain European, they will mix soot with earth, 
and daub themselves with it from head to foot. 
What would you do if one of them were to 
approach you with a wooden lip, their hair 
dripping with fish oil, and covered with paint ? 

Jane. I think we should be very nimble- 
footed. 

Mrs. B. I do not think you would wish 
to go home with them, for their houses have 
neither doors, windows, or chimneys, and are 
as filthy as their owners. 

Lucy. How do the men and women em- 
ploy themselves ? 

Mrs. B. The men build the houses, hunt, 
and fish ; and the women manufacture a very 



PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 13 

coarse kind of cloth, smoke and dry the pro- 
visions for winter, and both sexes make very- 
curious baskets, pipes, spoons, dishes, &c. 
They are not as lazy as most savages, and 
wives are better treated there, than in almost 
any other heathen place 1 ever heard of. It 
is not uncommon for them to be consulted 
about trade, and other subjects. 

Lucy. Do they not take advantage of it ? 

Mrs. B. Perhaps they do, sometimes. 
Mr. Green says, when the husband is intoxi- 
cated, the wife, if sober, subjects him to her 
authority, and in case of resistance, beats him 
most unmercifully ; but he did not tell me 
which wife took upon herself such airs. 

Lucy. I presume it was the head wife, 
for I have noticed that where polygamy is 
practised, the head wife was called the wife, 
though there were a dozen others. 

Helen. How many do the Indians allow. 

Mrs. B. As many as they choose to 
maintain; a She-bash — a chief, has ten, but 
two or three is more common. 

The men are notorious gamblers ; instead 
of cards, they use painted sticks ; they often 
become so infatuated as to stake their whole, 
property. 

' What is it to be infatuated, Lucy ?' whis- 



14 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 

pered Robert ; she replied, l To lose the 
understanding, and become foolish.' 

Lvcy. It is not very uncommon for gam- 
blers among ourselves, to seem bereft of their 
reason, for they not only hazard their pro- 
perty, but sooner or later lose their reputation, 
and ruin their families. 

Mrs. B. It is too true. The poor In- 
dians feel the loss of their property very 
keenly, for in their view nothing is so dis- 
graceful as poverty. 

I suppose we should smile contemptuously, 
at the inventory of one of their wealthiest 
men, said Lucy. 

What constitutes their wealth ? asked 
Helen. 

Skins, blankets, slaves and furniture, com- 
prise nearly the whole of it, said Mrs. B. 
However, a man's influence is exactly propor- 
tioned to his riches. 

Robert. How do they obtain slaves ? 

Mrs. B. Some are purchased of the 
southern tribes, and others are kidnapped. 
Strangers are led to think these unfortunate 
beings fare as well rs their owners ; but they 
are compelled to wear out their days in the 
lowest drudgery, and at the death of their 
master, if he is a chief, they are exposed to 



PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 15 

be offered in sacrifices, as one or more of 
these poor creatures is killed to accompany 
their master beyond the grave. And they 
stand no better chance if their master erects 
a new house, and lives to remove into it ; 
custom, or rather superstition, requiring the 
master to sacrifice or emancipate a slave at 
the feast that is held on the occasion. At the 
close of these entertainments, the guests dance 
and revel in a way peculiar to the heathen. 

Lucy. How do children fare ? 

Mrs. B. Some of them are murdered by 
their mothers as soon as they see the light, 
but those who are permitted to live, are fond- 
led and humored more than among civilized 
people. 

Ann. Do they have any regular govern- 
ment ? 

Mrs. B. No ; power gives right, and he 
that can gather round him a clan of warriors, 
fears no man, and submits to none. 

Lucy. I think you said they had no ideas 
of true religion, mother. 

Mrs. B. No, not the faintest idea of it ; 
when asked who made the sea, land, trees, 
&c, they answered, " We do not know." 
Some of the most knowing ones pretend that 
the world was created by a bird of the crow 
kind, which is much reverenced. 



16 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 

They believe in the existence of an evil 
being, who is extremely malignant, causing all 
afflictions of mind, body, or estate ; and they 
call him Nim-kel-sus. Nothing can be more 
absurd than their notions of a future state, be- 
lieving that those who die of sickness go into 
the country, while those who are drowned still 
exist in the sea ; and whoever dies in battle 
is exalted to the house of the sun, and their 
bodies are honored by burning, instead of 
being buried. 

Robert. Ma', do they worship idols ? 

Mrs. B. I do not know whether they pay 
them divine honors, but they have a wooden 
image, carved in the form of a wolf's head, in 
which they place great confidence in times of 
danger. One of them was carried to captain 
Taylor, and pawned for rum ! 

Lucy. It would seem that rum was dearer 
to him than his god. 

Helen. Judging by the conduct of drunk- 
ards in this land of light, I should think they 
were of the same opinion ; but, Ma', we ought 
not to interrupt you. 

Mrs. B. Every tribe has a set of men 
called Shargars, which, properly speaking, are 
the Indian priesthood. These men are sup- 
posed to have power to inflict, and to avert 
all kinds of diseases ; they are exceedingly 



PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 17 

cunning, and may be known from other men, 
by their manner of twisting up the hah. In 
performing some of their ceremonies they eat 
brimstone, and drink sea-wate**. When 
they take a fancy to some valuable article, 
they tell the owner of it that some distressing 
calamity is approaching, which they will turn 
back upon condition of receiving the thing 
coveted. In this way, they obtain many 
things, besides all they receive for singing 
over the sick, and at the birth of children, and 
for crying at funerals. Some of these wretch- 
es have been known to bite out and eat the 
flesh from the arms of the living, and what 
seems to me far more horrid, they will eat the 
flesh of the dead. And so debauched and 
superstitious are the poor, deluded Indians, that 
they are afraid to complain of such treatment. 
When asked why they suffered the shargars 
to bite and devour them, they answered, 
" Hush ; not good to speak thus." 

Lucy. Are they not the most odious and 
degraded of the human family ? 

Mrs. B. 1 can hardly conceive of a more 
disgusting race. I will close my account of 
them, this afternoon, in Mr. Green's own 
words. " Gratitude is a flame which no power 
can kindle in their icy bosoms. Indeed, with 
scarcely an exception, to do them a kindness 
2 



18 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 

is to increase their insolence, so that the man 
who to-day should heap on them the richest 
beneBts, they would stab to the heart to-mor- 
row, should he refuse to accede to their most 
unreasonable demands." 

Why did Mr. Green make a voyage to the North West coast ? 
How many tribes did he visit ? What are the names of the three 
drvVums into which be classed them? How many miles on the 
coas did he explore? How many inhabitants ? How are they 
Pmnloved * Describe the persons, dress, and employments of the 
SatWs. Who are the Shargars ? What do you remember of 
their superstitions ? 



CHAPTER II. 

Look down, O God, with pitying eye, 
And view the desolations round; 

See what wide realms in darkness lie ; 
What scenes of wo and crime abound. 

c I have been looking in my geography to 
find out more about the North West coast,' 
said little Robert, as he drew his chair to the 
table, where his mother and sisters were sitting 
at work. ' And what have you learned ?' said 
his sister Lucy. 

Robert. That the country back of the sea- 
shore is wild and uncultivated ; the land bro- 
ken, and covered with hemlock and spruce — 
rising from the water into ragged mountains, 
covered with snow the year round. There is 
plenty of fish and wild fowl, but good vegeta- 
bles are scarce. The people are very bad. 

Mrs. B. They are indeed, my son, so 
bad, that murder is almost daily committed, 
wherever a considerable number are settled 
together. The most trifling provocation 
arouses their wicked passions, and they never 
cease seeking their foe till they have shed his 



20 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 

blood. Theft is universally practised ; and so 
entirely destitute of truth are they, that you 
cannot place the least dependence upon any 
of their statements. 

Helen. What good then have the traders 
done there ? 

Mrs. B. I do not know of a single benefit 
any foreigner has ever conferred upon them, 
but the vices which they have introduced, 
have been of the most destructive kind, and 
if not counteracted, will be their everlasting 
ruin. 

Ann. What are the particular evils you 
allude to, mother ? 

Mrs. B. Intemperance, profligacy and 
disease. 

Helen. W 7 hy did not the Russians instruct 
them in reliaion ? 

Mrs. B. They profess the faith of the 
Greek Church, which much resembles that of 
the Church of Rome ; and that religion is not 
very apt to purify the morals, or enlighten the 
minds of its disciples. The Russians have a 
church at New Archangel. Its external ap- 
pearance is very ordinary, but within, it is highly 
embellished with numerous saints. Six large 
bells are hung, which call very loudly for the 
attendance of worshippers, but with very little 
success, for the congregations consist of only 
about fifty men and women, and a few boys 



PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 21 

who chant. The wax candles burning in dif- 
ferent parts of the house, amid the pictures 
and flowers, give it rather an attractive ap- 
pearance. 

The Russian governor, whose name is 
Chesticoff, received Mr. Green with great hos- 
pitality and kindness, and gave him an oppor- 
tunity to lay his object before seventy or 
eighty principal persons of the Sitka tribe of 
Indians, who listened to his account with 
some attention, and a very few of them ex- 
pressed a decided wish to have a missionary- 
establishment commenced ; but it was very 
evident, they attached to a mission only ideas of 
temporal advantage. The governor furnished 
him with a Russian and Indian interpreter, 
whenever he found it convenient to visit the 
Indian villages. 

Mr. Green formed an acquaintance with a 
young man from one of the Fox islands, who 
had lived with the Russians many years, in the 
capacity of interpreter to the Fur Company. 
From him, many interesting particulars of the 
tribes farther north were gathered, and being 
very intelligent, and communicative, Mr. 
Green's stock of information was considerably 
increased. 

Jane. Where are the Fox islands ? 

Lucy. You will find them on the map of 
2* 



22 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 

the world, a little south of Kamschatka. I sup- 
pose there must he a wide and dark field for 
Christian cultivation in all the surrounding 
countries. 

Mrs. B. Yes ; it needs almost every kind 
of cultivation, for the inhabitants are extreme- 
ly ignorant and superstitious. I wish you to 
read " Captain Parry's Voyages" and then 
you will know a great deal about the inhabit- 
ants of those northern regions ; and when 
studying geography, you ought to ascertain 
the moral and religious state of the countries; 
the advantages for intellectual culture, and 
state of society, as well as the boundaries, pop- 
ulation, he. 

Helen. Are all the people on that coast 
savage and ignorant ? 

Mrs. B. All the natives that Mr. Green visit- 
ed were so; and with a very few exceptions, 
they did not manifest the least desire to be en- 
lightened. He noticed two chiefs of the Turn 
Garse tribe, who said they wished for instruc- 
tion, but in general, all the tribes are sunk down 
into the very depths of degradation and crime. 

Lucy. Do you suppose they are destitute 
of intellectual capacities to rise to a state of 
civilization and refinement? 

Mrs. B. No, indeed ; a gentleman who 
had long been acquainted with the JVass tribe, 



PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 23 

said, " they seem to combine the man-brute 9 
with the man-devil " being as much distin- 
guished for their strength of intellect, as for 
their filth and debasement. While captain 
Taylor lay in their harbor, he found it almost 
impossible to keep them off his ship, even 
after he had put up the boarding nets, and set 
a watch from one end of the deck to the 
other. 

Robert, What are boarding-nets, mother? 

Mrs. B. A frame work, made of the 
strongest cord-netting, placed round a ship's 
deck, to prevent an enemy from climbing up 
the sides and getting on board. 

Jane. Were none allowed to come to the 
ship to trade ? 

Mrs. B. Yes; a few at a time were ad- 
mitted through a port-hole. One evening, 
while the ship lay at Nass, a chief of the 
Turn Garse tribe, named Le Koote, being in 
an unusually communicative humor, conversed 
freely with captain Taylor, who, at Mr. 
Green's request, inquired into his views of 
God and a future state. 

Lucy. I should admire to hear what he 
said about the religious notions of his tribe. 

Mrs. B. They believe in a kind of trans- 
migration, and say that some at death goto 
the " place, above" but that all are not well 



24 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 

treated, and when they find themselves kept 
short for food and drink, they come ^ack 
again, and enter another body, &c. After 
listening to such absurdities a while, Mr. 
Green told him of the Bible, and explained 
to him as well as he was able, the nature 
of the Christian religion. When Le Koote 
was told that God forbade murder, quarrelling;, 
and drunkenness, he replied quickly, " Why, 
then, is rum brought hither ?" 

Lucy. Who can wonder at the question, 
for 1 have often heard it said that rum and 
whiskey have done more to demoralize and 
destroy the Indians, than all other causes com- 
bined. 

Mrs. B. While the Volunteer lay off one 
of the villages on Queen Charlotte's island, 
several Indians belonging to the Kum-she-wa 
tribe came on board ; they had been great 
sufferers in the recent skirmish with the She- 
bash-a tribe. One had lost a wife, another a 
brother or sister ; most of them were in deep 
mourning. 

Helen. How were the mourners distin- 
guished ? 

Mrs. B. By painting their faces black, 
and cutting off their hair close to the head. 
The Masset tribe live in the neighborhood of 
Queen Charlotte's island, upon North island, 



PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 25 

which is separated from the former by a nar- 
row strait only. One day, Mr. Green paid 
them a visit, and they showed him considera- 
ble attention, by walking with him, and point- 
ing out whatever of curiosity their village con- 
tained. In his ramble, he observed a rude bust 
of a man, standing at the entrance of a poor 
looking hut, and asked one of the natives what 
it meant. One of them told him it was Doug- 
las, a chief, who had recently died in a drunken 
frolic, and was entombed in the cabin ; at the 
same moment, slipping aside a board, he dis- 
covered a box curiously carved and very gaily 
painted, which served the chief for a coffin. 
The usual custom of these people, is to ele- 
vate these gay coffins several feet from the 
ground, after the corpse is put into them, but 
the one that contained the body of Douglas, 
was not raised from the earth ? 

Helen. How can the Russian priests help 
teaching those poor heathen how to do like 
civilized and Christian people? 

Jane. Perhaps they have not been there 
long enough. 

Mrs. B. Yes, they have; some of them 
have lived on the coast many years, but they 
do not seem to feel much interest or compas- 
sion for the poor natives. 



26 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 

Lucy. Their case does seena almost hope- 
less. 

Mrs. B. It would not be hopeless, if the 
whites had not introduced intemperance, and 
other vices, which debase and destroy both 
soul and body. Some of the Russfans have 
married Indian women, and persuaded them 
to be baptized, but, said an old priest, " it does 
no good, they remain as before." 

Lucy. It is most likely he gave them no 
religious instruction beforehand. 

Mrs. B. Probably not of any kind, for he 
had six daughters, not one of whom could read. 

Helen. The priest and people were much 
alike, 1 should think. 

Mrs. B. Too much so, I fear; nothing 
more seems to be expected of him, than read- 
ing prayers, and attending weddings and 
funerals. 

Assisted by the Fox islander, Mr. Green 
held an agreeable conversation with a com- 
pany of chiefs at governor ChesticofFs, from 
the Sit-ka tribe. After telling them his own 
history, and stating the reasons that induced 
him to come so far to see them, he told them 
of the Sandwich islands, the former character 
of the inhabitants, of missionary efforts made 
among them, and of their present condition 
and prospects. He then introduced the 



PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 27 

recent improvement, among the Indian tribes 
in the United States, since they had received 
the gospel, and endeavored to show them the 
importance of receiving it themselves. They 
seemed pleased, and in return, told him about 
their own customs, and habijs, as well as their 
notions of religion. 

Robert. Could not Mr. Green have preach- 
ed to them through an interpreter ? 

Mrs. B. Yes, my son ; he did preach the 
gospel to hundreds in that way ; and he studi- 
ed their language with so much success, that 
before leaving, he was able to tell them in 
their own tongue some of the wonderful works 
of God. He preached once on board the 
ship to the crew, which consisted of ten natives 
of the Sandwich islands, and fifteen English- 
men, when two hundred Indians were on 
board. 

Robert. How did they behave? 

Mrs. B. With far more decorum than 
was expected. They were particularly struck 
with the prayer, and could not easily compre- 
hend how Mr. Green could talk to some one 
above. A friendly chief, named Kaw-e, who 
afforded Mr. Green much assistance in study- 
ing the language, listened with deep serious- 
ness to the doctrines of the resurrection, and 
the final judgment. He then inquired the 



28 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 

meaning of language he heard the sailors use. 
When it was explained to him, he manifested 
much feeling. He proposed accompanying 
Mr. Green when he should return to the Sand- 
wich islands, and take his little dauughter with 
him, to stay till her education should be com- 
pleted. This was encouraged by Mr. Green, 
who told the other Kig-a-nee chiefs, that if they 
followed his advice, they would go and settle 
on North island, which they readily agreed to 
do, upon condition he would go and live with 
them. This was just before Mr. Green sailed 
from Kig-a-nee. 

Robert. Where is Kig-a-nee, mother ? 

Mrs. JB. You cannot find it on your map, 
my dear, for it is but a small place in Cordoo 
sound ; and even that is not put down on many 
maps. It has always been a place of resort 
to traders, whose baneful influence has in- 
creased the wretchedness of the inhabitants of 
the whole tribe. While there, 3\lr. Green 
said, " The exhibitions of heathenism which I 
daily witness, are painful, but they are not so 
heart-rending as the scenes which are here 
acted by men from Christian countries." 

Helen. Where did Mr. Green go from 
Kig-a-nee ? 

Mrs. B. He set sail for Norfolk sound, 



PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 29 

but he came very near losing his life a few 
hours afterwards. ^ 

Jane. How ! how ! mother ? 

Mrs. B. I will tell you how. Early on 
the morning of May 12, captain Taylor gave 
orders for leaving the harbor. After they 
had weighed anchor and moved down to the 
entrance of the harbor, about half a mile, the 
Indians who had remained on board were 
ordered off. One of them resented it, and 
gave the captain a blow on the face, which 
was returned, probably with good interest ; 
the Indian seized a billet of wood, as if to 
repeat the blow. The officers and sailors ran 
to the arm chest — the Indians pushed forwards, 
and a scuffle commenced. 

Mr. Green ran on deck to see what was the 
matter, when an Indian with a drawn knife 
flew at him, and had he not fled to the 
cabin, would doubtless have stabbed him to 
the heart. He had hardly reached the cap- 
tain's state-room, before he heard the firing of 
muskets, and starting to go up, he met some 
of the crew bearing one of the officers who 
had been wounded. He was committed to 
Mr. Green's care, who staunched the blood 
as well as he was able, and tried to relieve the 
extreme pain of the poor sufferer. The mo- 
ment the firing ceased, he ran to look upon 
3 



30 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 

the deck, and see what had happened. "One 
poor Indian lay on the deck, a bloody corpse. 
Others were supposed to have fallen over- 
board, and others still were slightly wounded. 
A buck-shot had passed through the hat of the 
second officer, and several were lodged in the 
sides of the ship." Five of the Indians on 
board were retained as hostages by captain 
Taylor ; he assured those natives who came 
along side after the quarrel, that the hostages 
should be well treated and returned, if they 
offered no violence to other vessels that might 
chance to come on to the coast. He like- 
wise wrote a note to the traders at Kig-a-nee 
stating the cause and consequences of the 
affray, which the natives promised to deliver 
to the first who should arrive. 

Robert. Mother, what are hostages 6 ? 

Mrs. B. Persons given in pledge or secu- 
rity for the performance of conditions. I wish 
you always to inquire the meaning of words 
you do not understand, or what is still better, 
go to your dictionary immediately, and find out 
for yourself. 

Among the hostages was Sankart, the best 
man in his tribe, except Kaw-e. During the 
little voyage, Mr. Green labored incessantly 
to enlighten his dark mind ; he listened atten- 
tively, and I cannot but hope, that he under- 



PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 31 

stood enough of the way of salvation, to find 
the Saviour himself, and to lead others of his 
tribe to the same Ark of refuge. 

What did captain Taylor do with his wound- 
ed officer ? said Helen. 

He made the best of his way to Norfolk 
sound, anxious to afford him the best surgical 
aid in his power. The governor and other 
gentlemen showed much sympathy for the 
wounded officer, though they said, " If Amer- 
ican gentlemen will sell powder and muskets 
to the Indians, they must take the conse- 
quence." 

Jane. How did the matter end ? 

Mrs. B. When captain Taylor returned 
to Kig-a-nee, and found the Indians had done 
no injury to the ships, or traders, he sent three 
of the five hostages on shore. The Shargars, 
chiefs, and relatives of those who had been 
killed or wounded in the quarrel, came on 
board, and after much debating, peace was 
restored. The bereaved friends received a 
few presents, and appeared well satisfied. 

Mrs. Barton had hardly finished the last 
sentence, before she was interrupted by the 
arrival of Hugh Clifford, a son of her eldest 
brother; a young man of ardent piety and great 
activity in the cause of religion. 

He had spent most of his vacations in the 



32 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 

work of instruction, but finding his health re- 
quired relaxation, he cheerfully accepted his 
aunt Barton's invitation to spend the spring 
vacation with her. His knowledge of geog- 
raphy and missionary subjects, qualified him 
for affording his aunt any assistance she need- 
ed in giving her children an account of mis- 
sionary movements that were past, and those 
in immediate prospect ; and his own personal 
feelings rendered it altogether agreeable. 

How does the country appear on the North West coast ? Are 
fish and wild fowl plenty ? Describe die natives. Where are 
the Fox islands? Who was Le Koote ? Who Sank art, and 
Kaw-e? Who was Douglas ? Describe the affray on board 
the Volunteer? 



CHAPTER III. 

" Hear the heathen's sad complaining, — 

Christians, hear their dying cry; 

And, the love of Christ constraining. 

Join to help them ere they die." 

Cousin Hugh, do you know what an igno- 
rant, vicious race of Indians live on the North 
West coast ? said little Robert, as he was 
climbing on his knee, two or three evenings 
after his arrival. 

Hugh. I have some knowledge of their 
condition, having had my attention particularly 
directed of late to that quarter of the world. 
Perhaps you know that political, as well as 
religious men have long wished to have a col- 
ony established on that coast, and the neigh- 
borhood of the Columbia river has been much 
talked of, for several years. The friends of 
the heathen have longed to see a mission set- 
tled on that part of the coast belonging to the 
United States, but the Prudential Committee 
of the American Board of Missions, did not 
feel that it was expedient to fit out an expen- 
sive one, until the field had been carefully ex- 
3* 



34 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 

plored ; therefore, the Rev. Mr. Green, mis- 
sionary to the Sandwich islands, was instruct- 
ed by them to visit the coast, and report to 
them the situation of the country, and the con- 
dition and prospects of the inhabitants. 

Robert. Ma' has told us all about it from 
beginning to end. 

Mrs. B. Not to the end, my son, by a 
great deal. In addition to what 1 have related 
of Mr. Green's voyage and inquiries, your 
cousin can add his voyage *~ Francisco and 
St. Carlos. 

Hugh. Mr. Green's inquiries extended 
from Norfolk sound to California, but in the 
whole distance he did not find one spot where 
he dared to urge the Board to establish a mis- 
sion immediately, though it is hoped it may 
and will be attempted before a great while. 

Lucy. What peculiar obstacles are there 
to the introduction of Christianity ? 

Hugh. The greatest of all is their deep 
rooted hatred of foreigners, whose avr.ice 
and sensuality have led them f o ado, 
mode of treatment as could not far , ing 

the worst passions of the buma.i hea.-t. The 
small number of natives who speak the same 
language, is another difficulty, and the barren- 
ness of the country would render a mission 
too expensive in any of the districts visited by 



PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 35 

Mr. Green. But farther south I have been 
told there re multitudes of Indians, to whom 
the gospel might be preached, with bright 
prcspocts of success. They live some dis- 
tance from the coast, where profligate white 
men have not yet carried intemperance, disease, 
and death. If missionaries could gain a foot- 
ing in a heathen country, unacquainted with 
the vices of unprincipled foreigners, it would 
be comparatively easy to bring them under the 
governing influence of the Christian religion. 

Lucy. What a pity it is that the zeal of 
worldly men should so far outrun that of Chris- 
tians. I am sure it would not be thus, if faith 
was as operative as it should be. 

Hugh. A little time since, the Indians in 
the neighborhood of the Straits of Juan de 
Fuca w T ere ignorant of the use of fire-arms and 
ardent spirits, but quite recently it has become 
a favorite resort for fur traders. 

It is very likely that the traders have learned 
them the fatal use of both, before this time, 
said Mrs. Barton. 

Helen, What is the condition of the Indians 
in the neighborhood of the Columbia river, 
where you said the settlement of a colony was 
talked of. 

Hugh, A gentleman from there told me 



36 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 

that " they had learned every vice, but not a 
single virtue of their white neighbors." 
Robert. Where is the Columbia river ? 
Hugh. It empties into the Paci6c ocean, 
between forty-five and six degrees north lati- 
tude. 

If you please, cousin Clifford, let him find 
out himself on the map, interrupted Mrs. Bar- 
ton, adding, these little folks had much rather 
depend upon their friends for knowledge than 
labor to acquire it for themselves ; however, a 
little obtained by their own industry, will be 
retained much longer than a gift of much 
larger amount. 

Robert. Here it is ; but I thought I should 
never find it. 

Where, where, said Jane. 
Here, between cape Disappointment and 
point Adams, replied Robert ; but the map 
does not tell me how the country looks, cousin 
Hugh ; I wish you would. 

Hugh. Some travellers say that the coun- 
try about the river is barren, affording little 
vegetation and no game, and add an unfavor- 
able climate, and great poverty among the na- 
tives ; while others say, the Indians are very 
numerous, and the country fruitful. Mr. Mc- 
Kay says he has resided there seventeen 



PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 37 

years, and became acquainted with thirty-four 
different tribes, most of them powerful sav- 
ages, but not so fond of bloody wars as the 
tribes further north. 

Lucy. A mission in that region would be 
surrounded by dangers. 

Hugh. True, but dangers and difficulties 
of the most appalling kinds have not deterred 
the Russian Fur, the North West, and the 
Hudson Bay Companies, from occupying 
every important part, from Norfolk sound to 
the Columbia river. If the love of gain can 
make men fearlessly brave danger, should not 
the love of Christ, and compassion for the per- 
ishing Indians, inspire Christians with equal, 
if not superior courage ? The Indians are 
intelligent, and perfectly understand the mo- 
tives of traders in coming among them ; and 
who can doubt whether they would not be 
equally quick-sighted to discern the motives 
of benevolent self-denying missionaries, if they 
should go and exhibit in their holy lives the 
spirit of their office. 

Lucy. Do you think a mission will be 
sent there soon by the American Board of 
Foreign Missions ? 

Hugh. Probably not till the boundaries 
of the United States are more permanently 



38 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 

and satisfactorily settled. A colony and mis- 
sion on that coast, would be of vast impor- 
tance to the Sandwich islands mission, as it 
would supply them with fish, timber, and 
other necessary articles, and afford a cool and 
pleasant retreat for those missionaries whose 
constitutions were impaired from a long resi- 
dence in a tropical climate. 

Robert. I have found the Columbia river 
on my map ; do you know whether captain 
Taylor entered it ? 

Hugh. Yes, he attempted it ; but did not 
succeed. A heavy swell in the sea renders 
it extremely difficult to get into the river. A 
captain from Boston labored nine days to 
enter, and was obliged to give it up — captain 
Shaler eight, with no better success ; he gave 
it as his opinion that Juan de Fuca was a far 
more eligible place for a colony than the 
Columbia river. 

Mrs. B. 1 have heard a great deal said 
about planting a colony somewhere on the 
North West coast, and generally a mission has 
been proposed to be joined with it. Some 
have mentioned a place on the west side of 
the Rocky mountains, near the great Salt 
Lake, in latitude 42 degrees, but no place has 
hitherto offered, unconnected with very serious 
objections. 



PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 39 

Lucy. I think Mr. Green must have had 
great trials during his tour. 

Hugh. In speaking of his residence on 
the coast, he says, " so painful a post of obser- 
vation is this, that, had it been possible, I 
should long since have deserted it. To face 
an enemy without hope of conquest, or even 
the ability of resistance, is exceedingly dis- 
heartening. May I be content, if I can do 
no more, to hang on the wings of evil, and to 
retard, as much as possible, her desolating 
progress. I expected trials on this agency. 
To be long absent from my beloved family 
and dear associates — to go where I should 
have no sympathizing friend — to be deprived 
of all religious enjoyments, save those which 
are found in secret communion with God — 
and to dwell closely allied with the enemies 
of the Saviour ; — these I regarded at first as 
trials of no ordinary character. But they 
have been greater than I anticipated. To 
witness the wretchedness of the degraded 
heathen, without God, and without hope — to 
detect their dishonesty, and see them throw 
around their unlawful gains the cloak of 
deceit — to witness them degraded to the level 
of the brutes, and in these circumstances to 
be put in jeopardy by them, and to be almost 



40 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 

a passive spectator of all this guilt and misery, 
I need not say has been truly distressing." 

JWrs. B. I presume those months were 
the most painful part of his missionary life. 
Cousin Hugh, where did he go after leaving 
Norfolk sound the last time ? 

Hugh. To the coast of California. Cap- 
tain Taylor cast anchor in the bay of St. 
Francisco on the last day of September, 1SJ9. 

What is California ? asked Robert; here it 
is on the map, but I do not know what to 
call it. 

It is a peninsula, said Hugh ; can you tell 
me what that is ? 

Robert. A tract of land every where sur- 
rounded by water, except at one narrow neck, 
by which it joins the neighboring continent. 

And what is that narrow neck called ? 
asked Hugh. 

An isthmus, replied Robert. There is the 
isthmus of Suez, which connects Africa with 
Asia ; and there is the isthmus of Darien, 
which joins North and South America. 

Hugh. Very well Robert. Can you tell 
me how wide the isthmus of Darien is ? 

Robert. In one place it is only sixty miles 
over ; when they make a rail road, or a canal 
across it, cousin Hugh, see how quick we 



PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 41 

can get to the Sandwich islands without sail- 
ing down here round cape Horn. 

Helen. Come Robert, do listen and hear 
about California. Cousin, is it a cold or hot 
country, pleasant or disagreeable? 

Hugh. There is considerable diversity in 
the climate of New California, which extends 
from thirty-two to forty-two degrees of north 
latitude. Fruit ripens in some places as early 
as March or April, and then they raise two 
crops. 

Lucy. How many inhabitants are there ? 

Between St. Diego and St. Francisco, the 
Indians have been estimated at fifty thousand, 
said Hugh, and from the latter place to the 
northern limits of California, fifty thousand 
more, besides five thousand Creoles. 

Who are they f asked Jane. 

Hugh replied, the descendants of the Span- 
iards and Indians, making in the whole more 
than a hundred thousand. 

Mrs. B. I know very little of the history 
of that part of the country. 

Hugh. 1 do not know much of it, but I 
know it was discovered by Cortez, the great 
conqueror of Mexico, and that Sir Francis 
Drake, a celebrated English navigator, took 
possession of it in 1578, and had his right 
confirmed by the highest chief of the country. 
4 



42 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 

About two hundred years ago, said Ann, 
surely they have since then had time to make 
great improvements. 

Hugh. Yes, but Roman catholic mission- 
aries are not the men to elevate the standard 
of morals or piety ; if they had been, the 
fruitful and beautiful provinces of California, 
would not be inhabited by such an ignorant, 
motley race, as most of the present occupants 
are. The state of education is so very low, 
that not one in five of the men, and scarcely 
one in ten of the women, know how to read. 
The lads have completed their education, 
when they have become good horsemen, and 
can throw a noose over the necks of wild 
cattle, upon a full gallop ; and the girls have 
finished theirs, when they have acquired the 
arts of dancing expertly, and dressing taste- 
fully. 

Lucy. If their religion is as defective as 
their education, it will be of little use to the 
heathen natives. 

Hugh. The Romish is the only religion 
tolerated in California ; no foreigner is ever 
allowed to marry in the country, till he pro- 
fesses the catholic faith ; and there is not a 
single protestant missionary in the country. 

Ann. How many catholic ones are there ? 

Hugh. No less than twenty-one, in upper 



PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 43 

California ; each of which claim about three 
hundred Indian converts. 

Mrs. B. What constitutes conversion, in 
the view of the catholic priests? 

Hugh. The repetition of a few prayers in 
Spanish, and submission to the rite of baptism. 

Lucy. How long have these missions 
been established ? 

Hugh. More than fifty years. They are 
almost entirely secular (worldly), having 
accumulated large herds of cattle, horses, 
and sheep. The mission houses serve as 
inns, or resting places to hunters and travel- 
lers, there being no taverns in the country. 

Mrs. B. How have the priests enriched 
themselves ? 

By trade with foreigners, replied Hugh. 

Lucy. What did they teach the poor na- 
tives ? 

Hugh. To build houses, manufacture cloths 
and cultivate the earth. 

Lucy. How do they compare with the 
more northern tribes ? 

Hugh. They are less intelligent, their 
personal appearance is not as good, and they 
are mote vicious and degraded, if it is possi- 
ble for human beings to be so. Mr. Green 
was repeatedly told, by both catholics and 
protestants, that the converted Indians, as they 



44 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 

are called in California, are much worse than 
their wild neighbors. They often run away 
from the missions and tempt their uncivilized 
brethren to commit the most enormous crimes. 
Had the gospel been preached fifty years ago, 
and the natives learned to read, and been in 
possession of the Bible, what different scenes 
would now be presented to the eye of the 
mourning traveller, as he surveys those plea- 
sant hills, and valleys, now inhabited by 
beastly drunkards, and the most filthy and 
debased of the human family. 

Mrs. B. Are the priests, themselves, vi- 
cious ? 

Mr. Green does not describe them so, 
replied Hugh. He was introduced to the 
only one at St. Francisco, who showed him 
great hospitality ; he had lived there twenty 
years, was very thin, and appeared feeble ; 
but had much information, and discovered 
considerable wit and humor. 

Mr. Green was likewise introduced to two 
of the priests at the mission of St. Carlos, 
named Ramond, and Sarin, the latter was 
president of all the spiritual affairs of Califor- 
nia. They were both advanced in life, sup- 
ported good characters, and appeared intelli- 
gent and respectable. Father Ramond took 
much interest in showing his ch ireh, the holy 
water, paintings, images and crucifixes to Mr. 



PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 45 

Green; and assured him that none of those 
things were worshipped, but only what these 
represented. Mr. Green said, You may pos- 
sibly employ them for that purpose, but I 
strongly suspect the ignorant pay them that 
homage which is due to God alone. 

Jane. What did Father Ramond then 
say ? 

Hugh. O, he shrugged up his shoulders, 
shook his head, and turned the conversation. 

Mrs. B. Well, cousin Hugh, I think you 
have given us a dark picture of California, — 
but I bless God for his promise of a brighter 
day. 

Hugh. The fulfilment of his promise that 
the "earth shall be filled with his glory," is 
connected with the efforts of his people, I sup- 
pose. If the church makes no exertions for 
the redemption of the numerous tribes of In- 
dians on the western side of America, do you 
expect the glory of God will shine there ? 
No, 1 do not, said his aunt, but I expect the 
church will awake and put forth her strength, 
and then she will gather into the fold of Christ 
all these poor forlorn outcasts. 

Lucy. It will require large sums to fur- 
nish the means of education and salvation to 
all those tribes you have described, — and 
4* 



46 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 

where do you think the money can come 
from ? 

Hugh. From professors of religion, chil- 
dren and youth in Sabbath schools ; and I 
should think that all the friends of civilization, 
religion and free institutions, would cheerfully 
give money for the object. 

Mrs. B. New 7 fields are opening every 
day, where preachers of the gospel and teach- 
ers of youth might enter, and labor with the 
brightest prospects of success, if the mission- 
ary funds were sufficient for their support. 

Helen. If everybody could hear as much 
about the heathen as we do, there would be 
no want of money ; for every new account 
I hear, sets me to devising new plans to get 
money, for missionary purposes. 

Your conversations about the people at the 
Sandwich islands, brought them very near, 
and I so heartily pitied them, that 1 have done 
without a great many Utile things, and saved 
the money to buy them paper, slates and quills. 

Lucy. I am sure, I feel ten fold more 
compassion for the distant heathen, than I did 
before I read attentively, the Missionary Her- 
ald, the books about the Indian Missions, and 
heard mother's and your conversations about 
the Sandwich islands, and the North West 
coast, 



PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 47 

Hugh. If so, the object we had in view 
has been accomplished. 

Mrs. B. Similar results would follow in 
most other families, if the same pains were 
taken to interest children in the subject of mis- 
sions. I have seen enough to convince me 
thoroughly, that nothing is wanting but a know- 
ledge of the wants and woes of the heathen 
world, to secure the co-operation of children, 
and all the friends of God, in enlightening, 
and reclaiming it. 

Hugh. I find my cousins quite as happy 
now they deny themselves many of the luxu- 
ries they used to indulge in, as when I was 
here last. 

And a great deal happier, said Ann and 
Jane, for now we have money to give at 
every monthly concert, and every Sabbath 
school concert. 

Robert. We buy no candy, nor sugar- 
plums now-a-days ; but put all our candy 
money into the boxes at the concert meetings. 

What will you tell us about next, cousin 
Hugh ? said Ann. 

Hugh. What do you want to hear about? 

The heathen — the heathen, replied Robert. 

Jane. Ma' has promised to tell us about 
the Washington islands, sometime. 



48 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 

Lucy. Do let us hear about the Wash- 
ington islands. 

Not this evening, said Hugh — if I read my 
poem for examination. 

We will hear that now, said Mrs. Barton. 

Before Hugh began to read, he asked the 
following questions : 

What are the principal obstacles to missionary exertions 
on the North West coast ? Where does the Columbia river 
empty ? Where is California ? By whom discovered ? When ? 
What is the state of education there ? In what does that of 
the boys consist 1 In what the girls ? How many catholic mis- 
sions are there ? What do the priests teach the Indians ? What 
do protestants and catholics say of those natives who have been 
longest attached to the mission ? 



HYMN. 

O'er the gloomy hills of darkness, 
Look, my soul — be still and gaze ; 

See the promises advancing 
To a glorious day of grace ! 

Blessed jubilee ! 
Let thy glorious morning dawn. 

Let the dark benighted pagan, 

Let the rude barbarian see 
That divine and glorious conquest 
Once obtained on Calvary : 
Let the gospel 
Loud resound from pole to pole 



PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 49 

Kingdoms wide that sit in darkness, 
Grant them, Lord, the glorious light; 

Now, from eastern coast to western, 
May the morning chase the night ; 

Let redemption 
Freely purchased, win the day ! 

Fly abroad, thou mighty gospel ; 

Win and conquer — never cease ! 
May thy lasting, wide dominions 

Multiply, and still increase ; 
Sway thy sceptre, 

Saviour, all the world around ! — Williams. 



PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 



PART II. 

CHAPTER I. 

" Who, but thou, Almighty Spirit, 
Can the heathen world reclaim ? 
Men may preach — but till thou favor 
Heathens will be still the same: 

Mighty Spirit ! 
Witness to the Saviour's name." 

Helen, what do you already know about 
the Washington islands, said Hugh Clifford. 

She replied, I know nothing more about 
them than their name. 

Lucy. How far are they from the Mar- 
quesas islands that are laid down on the 
map ? 

About a hundred miles north west from 
them, replied Hugh. They were discovered 
by captain Ingraham, of Boston, in 1791, 
just forty-one years ago. They were visited 



52 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 

the next year by captain Roberts of the same 
city, and by him named for the illustrious 
Washington, whose name they have borne 
ever since. 

Robert. How many of them are there ? 

Hugh. Three. Nu-ku-hi-va is twenty 
miles long, and nearly as wide, and it has 
several excellent harbors. The others are 
called Hu-a-hu-ka, and U-a-pau, the former 
lies about twenty miles west from Nu-ku-hi- 
va, and the latter thirty miles south, both of 
them are smaller than Nu-ku-hi-va. The 
inhabitants are exactly like those on the Mar- 
quesas, and most of their customs and super- 
stitions are the same ; and excepting those on 
the sea coast, who have been corrupted by 
wicked men from Christian countries, are in 
their original state of heathenism. 

Robert. Cousin Hugh, how did you find 
out so much about these islands and the 
people ? 

Hugh. By commodore Porter, and the 
Rev. Mr. Stewart, chaplain of the man-of- 
war Vincennes, and two or three other gentle- 
men. 

Robert. How happened the man-of-war to 
go there ? 

Hugh. I presume you mean the Vin- 
cennes. I will tell you. Early in 1829, the 



PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 53 

United States' ships Guerrier and St. Louis, 
were ordered to sail for the Pacific ocean to 
relieve the public squadron there ; one of 
them, the Vincennes, was directed to visit the 
Sandwich islands, and return to America by 
the cape of Good Hope. Mr. Stewart had 
been a missionary to those islands, and on 
account of Mrs. Stewart's sickness was obliged 
to return to America, in 1825. After con- 
tinuing in the service of the Board of Missions 
nearly two years, he accepted a chaplaincy 
in the navy, and was granted a transfer to 
the Vincennes, when the Guerrier, the ship 
in which he sailed from America, should reach 
the Pacific. This transfer was made at 
Callao, a port in Peru, on the fourth of July, 
1829. 

Robert. Why did the man-of-war visit 
the Sandwich islands ? 

Hugh. The government of the United 
States ordered captain Finch, the commander 
of the Vincennes, to visit the different islands 
in the Pacific ocean, u with a view to secure 
harmonious intercourse between them and 
those of our defenceless sea faring country- 
men, whose pursuits are lawful, and whose 
necessities compel them to resort to a harbor 
for refreshment and supplies ; to reclaim 
those who from thoughtlessness or improper 
5 



54 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 

motives might have remained among them J 
to exhibit our own moral advancement — to 
elevate our national character in their estima- 
tion — and by the contrast presented, to in- 
duce a praise-worthy imitation on their part." 

Captain Finch was an accomplished officer, 
and a gentleman of high morals, and he 
formed a resolution that his men should not 
injure a single native at any island at which 
he might touch, nor, if possible to prevent it y 
be injured. Therefore, a day or two before 
reaching any of the south sea islands, he called 
his crew together, and cautioned them against 
going en shore without the protection of arms, 
and the uniform of the ship. He also forbade 
any native men or women to come on board 
under any circumstances that the strictest pro- 
priety would not justify. 

Lucy. Which of the south sea islands did 
they reach first ? 

Hugh. Nu-ku-hi-va, one of the Washington 
islands, was the first at which they landed, 
but Hu-a-hu-ka was the first they passed. 

Helen. What is the appearance of these 
islands as you approach them ? 

Hugh. Lofty and precipitous, like most 
other high tropical islands. Hu-a-hu-ka, the 
first they approached, wore a verdant appear- 
ance, from the grass which grew upon the hills 



PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 55 

&nd valleys most luxuriantly, but no woodland 
was to be seen except upon the summits of 
the highest hills, until the ship passed round 
to the western side, where all the hills were 
covered with wood or low bushes. This 
island had been half encircled, before a human 
being was to be seen ; then in passing a high 
bluff, some of the people in the ship discov- 
ered that its top was covered with natives, all 
in a state of nature. The moment they saw 
the ship, " the shore rang with wild shouts, 
as they waved streamers of white cloth high 
on their spears, and tossed their mantles 
above their heads in the air." As the ship 
passed the bluff, it was quite amusing to see 
the naked creatures " scampering along the 
heights, shouting and whistling," and making 
all sorts of wild gestures. The captain slack- 
ened the sailing of the ship to allow them an 
opportunity to come nearer, but they did not 
seem to have courage enough ; but as she 
moved slowly along a rocky promontory, they 
were seen just ahead, and on the top of the 
highest part the figures of a numerous com- 
pany were seen, seemingly standing against 
the sky ; these came hurrying down the rocky 
sides of the hill, hallooing and beckoning the 
strangers in the most wild and clamorous 
manner. In the midst of the tumult, captain 



56 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 

Finch ordered the band of music on deck — 
the moment its full and sweet strains were 
heard by those children of nature, their shout- 
ings ceased, and all suddenly crouched to the 
earth in perfect silence, and in that posture 
they remained, apparently lost in wonder and 
admiration, so long as the distance and twi- 
light allowed them to be distinguished. 

Early the next morning the island of 
Nu-ku-hi-va lay full before them, its high- 
est peaks rose between two and three thou- 
sand feet above the level of the ocean. 
The eastern part looked like a mass of barren 
rocks ; but as soon as they passed a point 
which was called " Tower Bluff," a deep 
bay and beautiful valley opened to their de- 
lighted view ; the mountains to their highest 
tops, are covered with groves of cocoa nut, 
and bread fruit trees. A mile from Tower 
Bluff, the vessel ran in with the shore, and 
fell in with a little fleet of fishing canoes, from 
the Ha-pa tribe ; the surprise and delight of 
the fishermen, were expressed by a wild chat- 
tering, and noisy kind of laugh. Anxious t< 
get a nearer view of these savage people, the 
captain suffered his men to help them in 
climbing up the sides of the ship ; and though 
she was under a quick sail, four or five of the 
most nimble got fairly on deck, full of merri- 



PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 57 

ment and good humor. Naked as they were 
when they reached the deck, in a few minutes 
the whole were transformed into sturdy sailors, 
in frocks, trowsers, and tarpaulins, and each 
flew to the rigging, pulling and hauling in true 
sailor fashion. 

Captain Finch had scarcely let go the an- 
chor, before multitudes of both sexes came 
swimming to the ship ; the women with a kind 
of petticoat of native cloth, tied up in leaves, 
which they held up on a short stick over their 
heads while in the water, and after getting 
safe on board, they dressed themselves. As 
many as one hundred and fifty or two hun- 
dred of the common people got on board, 
when all was noise and confusion. To this 
numerous company were shortly added the 
king, a little boy of eight years old, called 
Mo-a-na, his guardian, and the regent, named 
Ha-a-pe, whose little son, Te-na-e, of the age 
of the king, was very pretty ; both these 
handsome little fellows, found a friend in 
every officer on ship board. Pi-a-ro-ro, a 
chief of rank from the Ha-pa tribe, came in 
the same canoe. He was a tall and finely 
proportioned man, with good features, and 
teeth of the most beautiful form and whiteness. 
Though naked, his body was so entirely cov- 
ered with tattooed figures, that he was black 
5 * . 



58 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 

as an African, and at a little distance it had 
the appearance of clothing. If you are at a loss 
to know what tattoo marks are, I will tell you 
that most of the south sea islanders, and in- 
deed many other uncivilized people, have a 
custom of pricking a variety of patterns on 
the skin, with an instrument dipped in some 
blue or black coloring matter, which remains 
indelible after the wound is healed. This 
chiefs whole body was covered with it. His 
hair was tied in two bunches on the top of 
his head, with a fillet of ta-pa, native cloth, 
which resembles white paper. 

Lucy. Was Ha-a-pe, the regent, as fine a 
figure as Pi-a-ro-ro ? 

Hugh. No ; his personal appearance was 
not as good, but he was a mild, amiable 
looking man, in middle life, rather below the 
common stature. His hair, which was begin- 
ning to be grey, was cut close, except a small 
bunch, gathered on the top of his head, in 
a band of white cloth. His ear-rings were 
large, made of the tooth of a whale. These 
chiefs welcomed captain Finch with much 
cordiality. 

Robert. Are not the Washington and Sand- 
wich islands nearly alike ? 

Hugh. Yes, from the descriptions of each, 
there must be a great similarity ; both have 



PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 59 

almost innumerable ravines, lawns, cascades, 
mountains, craggy rocks, ridges, valleys, palm 
trees, thatched huts, &c. 

Jane. Robert, how can you interrupt 
cousin so often ? I want to hear how long 
the natives staid on board the ship. 

Hugh. About two hours. The captain 
treated them with bread, raisins, and other 
nice things ; and afterwards entertained them 
with several tunes from the band of music, 
which almost entranced the poor creatures, 
who leftthe ship rather unwillingly. However, 
after captain Finch made them understand 
that they were never to approach his ship un- 
til they saw a white flag displayed, that they 
might come at any time when that was flying, 
they quietly departed. 

The next morning while captain Finch and 
Mr. Stewart the chaplain were on shore, they 
were met by the two chiefs, and an English- 
man named Morrison, who had resided there 
several years, to collect sandal wood ; he very 
cheerfully served as interpreter between the 
chiefs and the officers of the Vincennes. 

Lucy. Did not the officers return the visit 
of the natives ? 

Hugh. Yes, they paid a visit to the regent 
soon after their first introduction. The splen- 
did appearance of naval uniform, the glitter- 



60 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 

ing arms, and the parade of boats in proces- 
sion, quite surprised and embarrased the chiefs, 
who felt themselves entirely unprepared to 
give a feast, according to the native custom 
of expressing hospitality and friendship ; in a 
manner suited to the taste of their guests; how- 
ever, perceiving that nothing of the kind was 
expected, they seemed quite at ease, and evi- 
dently enjoyed the honor which the captain 
really intended to put upon them- 

Mr. Stewart said, the house had a "pretty 
cottage-like appearance." These people use 
the same materials in building that they do at 
the Sandwich islands, but the fashion of their 
houses is altogether unlike. The roofs, in- 
stead of sloping from the ridgepole in front, 
and on the backside, descend on the latter 
almost perpendicularly, from the peak to the 
platform, upon which the hut is built, this is usu- 
ally elevated from the ground from one to four 
feet, and uniformly extends two or three feet 
beyond the building on all sides. The dimen- 
sions of the houses, vary from twenty to one 
hundred feet in length, and from ten to four- 
teen in width. The usual height is from eight 
to sixteen feet. They are all of one form, 
from the palaces of the kings to the meanest 
huts of the fishermen. The leaves of the 
rocoa-nut tree, which are from twelve to six- 



PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 61 

teen feet long, with those of the bread fruit and 
palm tree, are used for thatching, all over the 
islands, instead of grass, such as is used at the 
Sandwich islands. The leaves whiten in the 
sun, and at a distance their appearance is not 
very unlike the white wooden houses in New 
England. 

Many of the better sort of native houses 
are not thatched in front, but left entirely 
open, or else finished in a kind of lattice- 
work, by interweaving colored vines, or bam- 
boos, among the pillars which support the 
roof. The appearance is like the common 
summer houses you have seen in gardens in 
the country. Ha-a-pe*s house was built in this 
way, with a slide door in the middle where 
the party entered ; his wife, a fine looking 
woman, sat with a babe on her lap, of which 
she seemed very fond. She wore a loose 
garment made of tapa, and a turban of the 
same material. 

Kllen. Did the house contain much furni- 
ture ? 

Hugh. No ; calabashes, wooden bowls, 
and a few other small ..things, comprised the 
whole of the furniture, excepting a lounge, 
made very roughly of logs, grass, and mats, 
which served the whole family for a bed. 

Robert. What are calabashes ? 



62 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 

Hugh. They are vessels made from gourd, 
cocoa-nut, and other shells. 

Robert. But how can any thing but bot- 
tles and ladles be made of gourd shells ? 

Hugh. I will tell you ; in that warm coun- 
try, gourds grow with surprising rapidity, and 
very large ; the natives form them into bowls 
and dishes while growing, by tieing strong 
bandages around them, and thus shaping 
them for any use they choose. They orna- 
ment them by cutting seams through the skin, 
before they ripen, in such forms as their fan- 
cies dictate ; when well finished some of 
them are very handsome. Besides the cala- 
bashes, bowls, trays, &c, in Ha-a-pe's house, 
a few muskets were seen sticking in the 
thatch, with numerous spears, war-clubs, and 
other native weapons of war. 

Lucy. How did the visit end ? 

Hugh. Very pleasantly ; though the gen- 
tlemen were rather uncomfortable from the 
heat, and odour of the cocoa-nut oil, with 
which the natives anoint themselves ; they 
were followed into the regent's house by such 
multitudes, that in a short time the air was so 
impure, and the flies so troublesome, that 
captain Finch gladly retired, after assuring 
the chief of the kind motives, which"" actuated 
his government in directing this visit, as well 



PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 63 

as his own kind wishes. The chiefs received 
the captain's presents of knives, spoons, cali- 
co, arid other useful articles, with strong ex- 
pressions of pleasure. 

After leaving the house, the party continu- 
ed their ramble some time before they return- 
ed to the ship. 

Robert. Are there any idol's temples at 
Nu-ku-hi-va ? 

Hugh. There are. 

Jane. What do they offer in sacrifice to 
the idols ? 

Hugh. Fruits, flowers, vegetables, hogs, 
dogs, and human beings. 

Human beings ! exclaimed Robert. 

Hugh. 1 will tell you more about it ano- 
ther time. How well can you remember 
what you have heard already ? 

Where are the Washington islands ? Who discovered them 1 
When 1 Who named them 1 In honor of whom ? How many 
are there of them ? What are their names ? How large is 
Nu-ku-hi-va 1 Describe the appearance and manners of the 
natives. Who is king 1 How old is he ? 



CHAPTER II. 



"Kingdoms wide, that sit in darkness, 
Grant them, Lord, the glorious light ; 
Now, from eastern coast to western, 
May the morning chase the night ; 

Let redemption, 
Freely purchased, win the day !" 

Hugh Clifford improved the earliest op- 
portunity to gratify the curiosity of his cousins, 
respecting the superstitions and amusements 
of the natives of the Washington islands. 

Jane. Do they often sacrifice human beings ? 

Hugh. I presume so. Some of them are 
eaten as well as offered to the idols— there is 
a temple in the valley of Tai-o-a, and another 
at Hak-a-pa-a, at which human victims have 
been seen lying before the stupid gods, a mass 
of putrefaction. At the latter place, the offi- 
cers of captain Finch saw the remains of a 
man lying in a wooden trough before one of 
the idols, and close beside it was a house for 
the dead. 



PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. $$ 

Helen. Do they not bury their dead ! 

Hugh. No. I will some lime tell you about 
their funerals. In the house near the temple 
at Hak-a-pa-a, lay a corpse stretched upon a 
bier of spears, in almost as offensive state as 
the sacrifice before the idol ; it is supposed 
that the ghost of this person called for the 
human victim which had been discovered. 
Near the bier was a rude altar, and at each 
end of it stood an idol surrounded by offer- 
ings — two dogs were suspended before it, one 
by his neck from a pole, and the other from 
a post in a basket ; both putrified and swarm- 
ing with flies. Pieces of fish and pork were 
hanging in other places, and a large quantity 
of cocoa-nuts, bread-fruit, &c. were strewed 
upon the floor, for the use of these dumb 
idols. 

Mrs. B. In viewing such a scene, who 
could doubt for a moment, the divine origin 
of the Christian religion ? If an infidel would 
with candor contrast heathen with Christian 
worship, it does not seem to me possible that 
he could remain unbelieving. 

Hugh. It does not appear to me likely 
that they would ; but I never knew an infidel 
at all disposed to inquire into the superstitions 
and idolatrous worship of the heathen, with a 
view to compare it with that required in the 
6 



66 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 

religion of the Bible. I cannot read or hear 

of such abominations being practised without 

longing desires to go and apply the only remedy. 

What is that remedy ? whispered Robert. 

Mrs. JB. The preaching of the cross of 

Christ. I hope before this lime, some of those 

missionaries who sailed for the Sandwich 

islands from New Bedford, Mass., in Dec. 

1830, have arrived there, and commenced 

preaching and teaching.these poor idolaters the 

way of life. It would be a joyful sight, to 

see a church rising upon the ruins of the 

temple at Hak-a-pa-a, or that in the valley of 

Tai-o-a. 

Hugh. 1 trust the time approaches, when 
not only places for Christian worship, but 
school-houses, and asylums for the poor, sick, 
and aged, will adorn those beautiful hills and 
valleys. Humanity, as well as religion, calls 
for effort in behalf of uncivilized and pagan 
nations ; and I have often wondered that 
every friend to human happiness did not 
unite to overthrow the polluted altars of the 
heathen. 

Mrs. B. The time will come, and I 
sometimes think it will come speedily — when 
there will be a thousand times more union and 
effort than at present. 

Come, let us hear about their funerals, 
now, said Helen. 



PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 67 

Hugh. When a person is supposed to be 
sick unto death, the house is soon filled with 
wailing women, who express their grief in the 
most doleful tones, while the Tan-as exert all 
their skill and sorcery to restore the patient. 

Jane. Who are the Tau-as? 

Hugh. A kind of prophet and sorcerer, 
(the same as conjuror.) But as death ap- 
proaches, the wallers and sorcerers dance 
naked round the bed of the dying, making the 
most piercing cries, as they cut their flesh 
with sharp stones till the sufferer expires, 
" when all unite in a most terrific howl." 

Robert. Where do they put the corpse? 

Hugh. They dress il in new clothes, and 
lay it in a small house, close by the one he oc- 
cupied when living, upon a bier made of spears, 
like the one described near the temple of 
Hak-a-pa-a. Watchers are employed for 
several nights to sit by it, and attend to the 
burning torches, while the priests sing mourn- 
ful songs. " From the time of the death, till 
the priests complete the songs chanted on such 
occasions, all fast— no one touches the pro- 
visions, and no fire is allowed to be kindled 
within sight." But the approaching feast 
makes ample amends. The guests having 
assembled, the food is brought forward smo- 
king from the ovens, and the half starved 



68 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 

mourners, and invited company fall too with 
eagerness, after the meat is carved with 
a sharp stone, or a wooden knife. The feast 
often continues two or three days. A gentle- 
man who visited a house, immediately after 
the dispersion of the company on a funeral 
occasion, said it was in a most disgusting 
state " from the fragments of half-cooked meat 
scattered in blood and grease and suspended 
among the sticks of the fence on the top of the 
platform. Two immense wooden troughs 
nearly as large as canoes, half filled with poe, 
(taro pudding,) stood on one side of the door; 
while a whole hog, of some hundreds' weight, 
still uncarved, lay opposite, on a bed of green 
leaves ; the whole swarming with flies like 
bees around their hives." The house had lit- 
tle white flags, raised on short poles, set upon 
the ridge-pole, and close beside it there was a 
structure, in which a corpse was soon to be 
laid, on a bier surrounded with curious shrines 
made of the leaves of cocoa-nuts, which had 
been formed by the priests to contain the food 
of the deceased. 

Jane. What are shrines, mother ? 

Mrs. B. A case in which some sacred 
article is deposited. Where was the body, 
designed for the bier you have described, 
Hugh? 



PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 69 

Hugh. In an adjoining hut. Almost all 
the Tu-pu-pau's, or houses of the dead, have 
numerous shrines, and in some of them a kind 
of incense is burned on hot stones. 

Lucy. In what does their religious services 
consist at the temples ? 

Hugh. Chiefly in music. Mr. Crook 
describes one of their sacred songs, as a 
kind of prayer which is chanted by the offi- 
ciating priest to the beating of a great drum, 
five or six feet high. Another song is repeat- 
ed between singing and saying, by the priest, 
who often uses great violence of gesture, and 
at the end his voice sounds much like the 
barking of a dog — ihe congregation returns a 
" suitable response, in general chorus, resem- 
bling a low growl." 

All their history and geography is embodied 
in their sacred songs, as well as the biography 
of the most famous chiefs and warriors. 

Helen. Have they no other religious rites 
or ceremonies ? 

Hugh. O yes ; more than I have pa- 
tience to recount. Sometimes the priest lifts 
up a bundle, and lays it down again with great 
care, while the people stand and respond or 
return answers to the senseless jargon of the 
priest as he elevates it. 

Robert. What is the bundle ? 
g* 



70 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 

Hugh. A log of wood which they call 
the " clothed god" being wrapped in a piece 
of native cloth, with four conch shells fastened 
to it. 

Jane. What, such conch shells as uncle 
Harvey blows, to call his men to dinner ? 

Hugh. Yes ; exactly such ones. Some- 
times the priest raises up the dish with a hu- 
man skull on it covered with flowers, and lays 
it down with the same unmeaning words, as 
before when he elevated the clothed god. 
" A cocoa-nut leaf, also, woven so as to rep- 
resent a human victim, and fastened to a long 
pole, is borne along on the shoulders of two 
men; a principal priest then speaks aloud, as 
if asking a question, and all the rest answer 
in a shout." Other things are raised, and the 
name of a god invoked loudly in token of their 
dependence on it for help or success. 

Mrs. B. Have they nothing like secret 
devotion ? 

Hugh. I presume their private offerings 
of dogs, fowls, fish, fruit and flowers before 
their idols constitutes their devotion, because 
when they lay them before the god they pray 
to it, and when they go to their daily meals, 
they carelessly throw a mouthful against the 
side of the house, with a word of excla- 
mation to some god, which means, " There is 






PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 71 

some for you." The priests are distinguished 
from other men by their dress. 

Robert. Do they wear black coats? 

Hugh. No ; coats are not worn there, 
nor any other articles of clothing, except man- 
tles, (a kind of cloaks or blankets,) and girdles; 
but in addition to these, the priests wear caps 
and capes made of the leaves of the cocoa- 
nut tree. They are not very numerous, so that 
they are almost constantly occupied in cere- 
monies of one kind or other ; especially be- 
fore a battle, and afterwards, over the prisoners, 
before they are sacrificed. Their assistants 
are called Uus ; upon these the laborious 
parts of preparation for human sacrifices de- 
volve. 

Lucy. Is their government a monarchy? 

Hugh. It is so blended with their religion 
that I do not know what it ought to be called. 
I believe it is, properly speaking, a government 
of superstition. The tabu sy stem prevails, and 
the inhabitants of all the islands are divided 
into two classes, the tabu, and common. The 
gods, prophets, or sorcerers, the priests, and 
their assistants, form the most honorable part 
of the tabu class, but all other men and boys, 
who are not public singers, and dancers, or 
servants to females, belong to the tabu order. 
These, with all females, comprise the common 



72 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 

class. The latter class are never allowed to 
cross the thresbhold of a tabu man's house, 
and many articles of food are forbidden to be 
used by the common order. 

Then the men have to build houses for their 
wives and daughters, said Lucy. 

Hugh. Yes ; but these are not tabued ; 
and the men of that order are allowed to enter 
them at pleasure. " Anything passing over 
the head of a person, or even the hand of a 
tabu man, must never itself be passed over, 
sat, or lain upon. To suffer this, would be a 
profanation of it in their view, which would 
bring the displeasure of the gods upon the indi- 
vidual through whom it became restricted by 
its being passed over his head. Consequently 
when this infringement takes place, whether 
by accident or design, die individual causing 
the profajiationj by applying the article to any 
common use, becomes an object of revenge 
to the other; and his life is sought as the only 
atonement for his carelessness or presump- 
tion. Till his death is secured, the person 
through whom the article became tabu, is sup- 
posed liable to the power of some fatal disor- 
der, or the infliction of other dreadful calami- 
ties. If a woman passes over or lies on any 
thing which has been consecrated by the touch 
of a tabu man. the article thus profaned can 



PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 73 

never be used as before, and the woman must 
be put to death." The poor deluded crea- 
tures attribute all their calamities, whether 
personal or national, to the violation or neglect 
of the tabu system, whereas most of them are 
the consequences of their vices, and supersti- 
tions. 

Lucy. I have been told that the same sys- 
tem prevails over nearly all the south sea 
islands. 

Hugh. You recollect it once did universally 
over the Sandwich islands, but Ri-ho-ri-ho 
abolished it about the time the American mis- 
sionaries settled there ; and 1 presume it will 
soon be overthrown at the Washington islands, 
if a mission should be established there. 

Ann. Is there any prospect of it ? 

Hugh. Yes ; I suppose one of the mis- 
sionaries who sailed from America in Decem- 
ber, 1830, has gone there before this time ; 
if so, when the missionaries who sailed from 
New Bedford, in November, 1831, arrive, 
it is likely some of them will go too. 

I will now tell you about a visit made by 
the chiefs Pi-a-ro-ro and Ha-a-pe, with many 
women of rank, to captain Finch, on board the 
man-of-war Vincennes. The chiefs came in 
one of their most splendid canoes, though per- 
fect! v rude in comparison of those made at the 



74 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 

Sandwich islands, for common purposes of 
fishing, &c. It was about twenty feet long, 
with a low prow, which " terminated in a flat 
head carved into a hideous face." 

Upon a slight platform of sticks, carpeted 
with a mot, sat a chief of distinction, from the 
tribe of Tai-o-a, named Tava-hania, cross leg- 
ged like a Turk, shaded by a few fresh gath- 
ered leaves of the cocoa-nut tree. His dress 
was a white tapa cloak, and turban made of a 
dried bannana leaf. Ha-a-pe sat in the middle 
of the canoe, in a similar attitude, with only a 
white girdle round his waist, and a bannana 
leaf turban ; while Pi-a-ro-ro was seated upon 
a high platform in the stern, under a canopy 
of palm leaves, with a long paddle to guide 
the canoe, which was rowed by six or eight 
stout natives. His long, jet black hair was 
frizzled out on both sides of his head to the 
greatest extent possible, till it hung over each 
shoulder, and down his back. It was removed 
from his ears, so as to display large ivory 
ornaments, most beautifully carved and highly 
polished. Elevated several feet above the 
water lay one of their wooden gods, adorned 
with many tufts of human hair, which had 
been preserved as trophies of war, in the way 
the Indians do the scalps of their enemies. 

Jane. How are the women dressed ? 



PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 75 

Hugh. All wore white tapa mantles, with 
turbans made from an article of their own 
manufacture, which was white, and as thin 
and fine as gauze. Many of the females are 
verv pretty, their complexions not darker than 
a deep brunette. Captain Finch made them 
handsome presents of useful articles, gave 
them refreshments of a variety of nice articles, 
and added a lively serenade from the whole 
band of music, till it was time for the 
party to return home. They left the ship, 
evidently impressed with a deep sense of the 
power of captain Finch, and the American 
government, which he represented. 

The captain had been on shore in the 
morning, and brought off to the ship the king 
and his little companion, and when the chiefs 
and ladies returned, he took Mo-a-na and his 
friend Te-na-a in the beautiful boat which the 
sailors called " the captain's gig" and con- 
veyed them to the shore. 

Robert. I wish I was a prince, don't you 
wish you was, cousin Hugh ? 

Not a heathen prince, replied Hugh, 
quickly. 

I should rather be a heathen, than not a 
prince, repeated the little boy, with emphasis, 
casting a side glance at his mother. 

Poor boy! said Mrs. Barton, if you had 



76 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 

any just apprehension of the nature and con- 
sequences of heathenism, you would bless God 
for a Christian birth-place, though it had been 
in the most obscure corner of the earth. I 
had rather you would be a Christian slave, 
than a heaihen prince. I fear you seldom 
think how short this life is at longest, and of 
how very little value the riches and honors of 
earth are, in comparison of a treasure in heav- 
en. In a sick and dying hour, a princely cor- 
onet, would have no charms for you, and all 
the gods of the heathen could not comfort or 
save you. In that solemn hour, the Lord Je- 
sus is the only friend that can do a dying sin- 
ner good. 

Robert looked confused, for he knew he 
had been talking in a wicked and foolish man- 
ner. 

It was near bedtime, and the family soon 
separated for the night. 

What is said of human sacrifices ? Describe the scene at the 
temple of Hak-a-pa-a. How are funerals conducted ? How are 
the priests distinguished from other men ? Describe their cere- 
monies at idol worship. Relate what you can remember of the 
tabu system. Describe the visit ef the chiefs and women to 
captain Finch. 



CHAPTER III. 



God of Jacob, high and glorious, 
Let thy people see thy hand ; 

Let the gospel be victorious, 

Through the world — in every land ; 

Then shall idols 
Perish, Lord — at thy command. 



After little Robert went to bed, the 
thoughts of human sacrifices kept him awake 
some time; and when he fell asleep, he dream- 
ed about the dead body that was discovered 
in a trough, before the idol god at Hak-a- 
pa-a, and he awoke in a great fright. His 
wicked wish to be a prince, and his choice to 
be a heathen, rather than not to be one, 
added much to his uneasiness ; and he said 
his prayers over and over again, and even 
prayed out of his heart, that God would for- 
give his sins. He lay, thinking over all he had 
ever heard about the ignorance and sufferings of 
little children in heathen countries, till he felt 
more pity for them than he had ever done 
7 



78 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 

before. O, if I had been born a heathen, 
said he to himself, my parents might have 
murdered me, and laid me in the trough be- 
fore some ugly, grinning idol ; and then he 
repeated these verses — 

" I thank the goodness and the grace 
Which on my birth have smil'd, 
And made me in these Christian days 
A free and happy child. 

" I was not born as thousands are, 
Where God was never known ; 
And taught to pray a useless prayer. 
To gods of wood and stone.'" 

He then said, 1 will utter no more idle, 
wicked wishes, but will work between schools 
to get money to send the Bible and ministers, 
to teach the poor heathen how to please God, 
better than to sacrifice men to their wooden 
gods, and murder their little babes. These 
resolutions occupied his mind, and in a de- 
gree quieted it, so that he again fell asleep, but 
was soon awakened by the ringing of the first 
bell. Little Robert did not do as some boys 
do, start up, and then lay down and sleep 
again, till their father or mother come to rouse 
them up in a resolute and angry tone of voice ; 
but he rose instantly, washed, and dressed him- 



PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 79 

self, brushed his hair smooth, and after read- 
ing a chapter in his Bible, he knelt down by 
his bed and prayed. 

6 O thou, who art the living and true God, 
wilt thou forgive my sins, and give me a new 
heart. I thank thee for taking care of me 
the last night. I bless thee for a kind moth- 
er, sisters, and friends ; bless them all, and 
make their hearts good, that they may love 
God, and obey Jesus Christ. Bless cousin 
Hugh, and kind Phillis, and help them to love 
and serve God. Pity the poor heathen, and 
put it into the hearts of all the children in the 
Sabbath school, to love and pity them ; and 
save their money, to send missionaries to tell 
them how to get to heaven. Bless my teach- 
er, and all the boys in my class, and all in 
the school. Help me to learn and be good, 
to-day. Save me from thinking wicked 
thoughts, an~d doing wicked actions, for Christ's 
sake, Amen. 5 

The breakfast bell rang just as he rose 
from his knees, and he went down, looking 
serious, and very pale. 

Hugh. Good morning, cousin Robert. 

Mrs. B. Why are you so pale, my dear; 
are you ill ? 

Robert. No, mother ; but I have had bad 
dreams about the man who was killed, and 






80 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 

put into the trough, for the gods, at the Wash- 
ington islands. 

Mrs. B. And yet you could wish to be a 
prince ; and, if a heathen prince, you would 
often witness more shocking spectacles than 
that. 

Jane. Mother, while you were telling us 
about the little princess Harieti, at the Sand- 
wich islands, I thought I would have given the 
world to be a princess, and have such beauti- 
ful dresses, and be noticed by every body as 
she was ; and I suppose little Robert felt so, 
when he wished he had been born a prince. 

I wanted to be a prince, that I might sail in 
the captain's gig, said Robert, making an 
effort to suppress his tears. 

Mrs. B. We ought to study contentment, 
in the condition Providence has assigned us. 
God has infinite power, and could as easily 
have made Robert a prince at Nu-ku-hi-va, 
and Jane a princess at the Sandwich islands, 
as the son and daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Bar- 
ton, at H r. 

Hugh. If my telling you about the cus- 
toms of the heathen incline you to forget, or 
under-value the mercy of living in a refined 
Christian society, 1 had better talk of some- 
thing else. 

Helen. It does not make me forget, or 
slight those mercies. 



PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 81 

Nor me either, said Ann, in a very self- 
complacent tone. 

Hugh. I was about to describe a dancing 
exhibition; aunt, I hope my cousins will not 
tvish to turn dancers, (looking at Jane and 
Robert, significantly.) 

Mrs. B. No, I have no fear of that; I 
trust my children feel too much self-respect 
to hanker after such a senseless amusement. 
I should like to have them hear about it. 
What are those exhibitions called ? 

Hugh. Koi-kas. There was to be one 
in the district occupied by the Ha~pa's tribe, 
while the Vincennes lay in the Bay of Tai-o- 
hae ; and eight of the officers, with their at- 
tendants, and Morrison for a guide, started 
about ten in the morning to witness the exhi- 
bition, which was about five miles distant, in 
the country, in a deep grove, on the border 
of a rapid stream that came tumbling from 
the mountains. The appearance of the fo- 
reign visitors induced a large party of natives 
to leave the .Ta-hu-a, dancing ground, to go 
and welcome them, which they did by such 
loud shouting, as made the woodlands ring. 

Hundreds of warriors, chiefs, ladies, and 
dancers, were assembled. 

Helen. Why did those officers wish to go 
to a dance ? 



82 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 

Hugh. Some of them went to gain more 
knowledge of the country, and the real state 
of the inhabitants. Others wished to hear 
the native music ; while the chaplain went 
" to see pure heathenism, as it is before one 
ray of Christian light has beamed upon its 
darkness." 

The place of exhibition was a kind of build- 
ing, mostly of mason-work, but without a roof. 
However, there were seats for persons of rank, 
for the musicians, &c, and a stage for the 
performers, who, upon this occasion, were 
only three ; one a young chief about twenty, 
and two little boys of eight or ten years of 
age. 

The music consisted of sixteen drums, and 
the voices of a hundred and fifty singers, who 
clapped their hands with violence, as they 
kept time with the drums, which were small, 
not more than two and a half feet high. The 
young chief was very handsome, and had a 
fine figure ; but his dress, if such it could be 
called, was very disgusting. It consisted of 
a large roll of white cloth about his waist, an 
immense quantity of white human hair, friz- 
zled to an enormous size, on his head ; and 
round his wrists and ancles, large bunches of 
frizzled black hair. 



PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 83 

One of the little boys wore a feathered 
helmet on his head, large wooden ornaments 
in his ears, whitened with pipe-clay, which 
entirely covered them over. 

Helen. How could he keep them on ? 

Hugh. By having slits cut in his ears, 
and thrusting long pegs or splinters through 
them, which were fastened on the backside 
of the ornaments. 

Frizzled hair was round his wrists and an- 
cles, like that worn by the young chief; a 
necklace of several strings of whale teeth, a 
white tapa girdle, and short white cloth cloak 
completed his dress. 

The other little fellow wore a roll of white 
cloth bound round his forehead, with a wreath 
of black feathers above it, and above that, 
puffs of white tapa, shaped like a fan, were 
raised to a great height. His girdle was 
white with garlands of a beautiful vine, and 
gay flowers plaited into the folds. The party 
w 7 ere weary of the scene in about twenty 
minutes, and thankfully retreated from it. 

Mrs. B. I should like to know what Mr. 
Stewart said, for he has had very unusual op- 
portunities of witnessing the habits, customs, 
and manners of the heathen. 

Hugh. He said, " there was less of licen- 
ciousness in the dance than he expected ; but 



84 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 

in a hundred things else, there were such 
open outrages on all decency, that 1 hurried 
away in a horror of disgust, with a heart too 
much humbled for the race to which I be- 
long, and too much depressed at the depra- 
vity and guilt of man, to think or feel on any 
other subject." 

Mrs. B. Are the Nu-ku-hi-vans gene- 
rally as handsome as the natives of the Sand- 
wich islands ? 

Hugh. Yes, they are handsomer — 
some of them are very beautiful, with com- 
plexions fair enough to admit redness in the 
cheek and lip. Very few are corpulent, like 
their neighbor chiefs at the Sandwich islands. 
The women are small, with hands and arms 
as well formed as any European ladies. Mr. 
Stewart said that some of those at the exhi- 
bition, had eyes extremely brilliant, softened 
by long glossy eye-lashes that are seldom 
surpassed, and teeth of unrivalled whiteness. 

The Ha-pa's ladies are more beautiful than 
many of those belonging to the other tribes ; 
but I am told they improve their complexions 
by using beautifying washes. 

Helen. O, do tell us what they are made 
of, cousin Hugh. 

Hugh. It will afford you no help, if I tell 
you, because the vines they extract the liquor 



PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 58 

from do not grow in this country. A large 
proportion of them mix the juice of tumeric 
or the powder of the burnt root, with oil, and 
paint their faces, necks, arms, and hands, a 
bright yellow or deep orange color. Many 
ladies at the dance, were dripping in their oil 
paints, as yellow as saffron. 

Lucy. How were the most respectable of 
them dressed on that occasion ? 

Hugh. With the exception of head dresses, 
the same kinds of girdles and mantles as the 
wife of Ha-a-pe and her companions wore 
when they visited captain Finch. Some wore 
turbans raised high by puffs and bows, while 
others had a plain white band round the head, 
with a modest bow on one side or in front, 
and after tying their long hair close to the 
head, let it fall down their backs from the 
opening of the band on the top of the head. 
It was very obvious that all who attended the 
exhibition were dressed in their best, and that 
most of the beauty and fashion of the tribe 
were displayed. The professional singers are 
the poets and composers of the songs sung at 
the Koi-ka ; the subjects are almost as vari- 
ous as the songs. The passion for these ex- 
hibitions is so universal, that people are willing 
to suffer almost any privation and fatigue, for 
the sake of attending them, though they sel- 



86 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 

dom break up without the fiercest contentions, 
during which many lose their lives. Some of 
the Ta-hu-as, or dancing grounds, are said to 
be spacious enough to hold ten thousand peo- 
ple. 

Lucy. I suppose they have a god over the 
dance. 

Hugh. Yes; they have a god over all 
the occupations and amusements of life ; and 
even men are found among them, who 
claim the title and attributes of deity ; but 
there are not more than two or three on an 
island, and they live in the greatest seclusion. 
Mr. Crook was acquainted with one of these 
men gods, at the Marquesas islands, who lived 
in a great house, surrounded by a strong en- 
closure. "In the house is an altar, and from 
the beams within, and upon the trees around 
it, are human carcasses, suspended with their 
heads downward, and scalped. No one enters 
the premises but his servant, except when 
human sacrifices are to be offered. Of these, 
more are offered to him than to any of their 
gods ; and he frequently seats himself on an 
elevated scaffold, in front of his house, and 
calls for two or three at a time." 

Mrs. B. Surely, " the dark places of the 
earth are full of the habitations of cruelty." 

Hugh. In addition to these human divini- 



PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 87 

ties, there are at the Washington islands nu- 
merous ideal beings which are worshipped as 
gods ; and supposed to have power over the 
elements. Besides those having dominions 
that can be defined, there are an almost innu- 
merable company that preside over mountains, 
streams, vallies, and almost every thing you 
can name. " It is supposed that departed 
spirits of men become gods; and thus they 
are multiplied, till ' almost every sound in na- 
ture, from the roaring of the tempest in the 
mountains, and the bursting of a thunderbolt in 
the clouds, to the sighing of a breeze through 
the cocoa-nut tops, and the chirping of an 
insect in the grass, or in the thatch of their 
huts — is interpreted into the movements of 
a god. 5 " There is another class, who are sup- 
posed to have power to compel a god to dwell 
within them at pleasure, and they often " pre- 
tend to be conversing with a god within them ; 
and, making a rustling in the leaves with their 
fingers, say they have been miraculously taken 
through the thatch of the house, and brought 
back by the door." They are called Tau-as, 
and are obeyed, when victims are demanded 
for the god dwelling w 7 ithin them. 

There are females who pretend to perform 
the same actions ascribed to the Tau-as, and 
they are greatly reverenced, though not as 



88 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 

much so as the males. All internal disorders 
are supposed to be inflicted by a god within, 
and is called, "sickness from a god" and 
none but a Tau-a can perform a cure, which 
is usually done by rubbing the sick, to find out 
where the evil god has hid himself. When 
found, they say they have smothered him. 
Nothing can exceed the extravagance and 
credulity of the natives, when they undertake 
to account for the origin of themselves and 
their islands. 

Lucy. How do they account for them ? 

Hugh. They say, " that, originally, men 
and fishes were locked up in the depths of the 
earth, which burst with a great explosion, 
leaving the men upon the land, and casting 
the fish into the sea." 

Mrs. B. The natives of the Washington 
islands must be a most interesting people, not- 
withstanding their idolatry, and they seem pre- 
pared to receive teachers, if they were ready 
to go, and I cannot think that much danger 
need be apprehended by missionaries. 

Hugh. They promised Mr. Stewart that 
they would no longer indulge in cannibalism. 

Robert. What is that ? 

Mrs. B. There are people among some 
savage nations who eat each other, and those 
who do, are called cannibals, (men eaters.) 



PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 89 

Hugh. To see them hovering about their 
American friends, gazing at, and admiring 
them, it hardly seemed possible they could be 
such blood thirsty savages. I was very much 
amused with a little account Mr. Stewart gave 
me of a visit on shore. Said he, " My robes 
and scarf were the subjects of the highest 
attraction. They appeared to take the fancy 
of the crowd, even more than the glitter and 
lace of my companions ; and when my hands 
were first discovered in a pair of black kid 
gloves, stitched with white, I could not rid 
myself of the throngs gathering round with 
wonder and delight. They appeared to think 
them a species of tattoo, inseparable from the 
hand ; and as they gazed at, and felt my fin- 
gers through them, " Mo-ta-ki /" — " Mo-ta- 
ki /" "good!" — "good!" in terms of the 
highest satisfaction, burst from a hundred 
lips." 

One Sabbath a large party went on board 
the man-of-war to hear Mr. Stewart preach. 
They seemed pleased with the form of Chris- 
tian worship, and the next day Mr. Stewart 
met some of the highest chiefs and held a long 
religious conversation with them. He ex- 
plained the leading principles of the Christian 
religion, the nature of missions, and the char- 
acter'and object of missionaries. When he 
8 



100 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 

told them of the love of the American people 
to them, and the desire of many to send them 
teachers, and inquired if they would like to 
receive them, all spoke together, " Ae ! Ae !" 
" Mo-ia-ki !" " Mo-ta-ki !" " good —good." 

Ha-a-pe, the regent, said, " It is with the 
king Mo-a-ner." To which the little fellow 
replied, " So let it be ; it is good, very good." 
A high chief said, " When they come, some 
of them must come and live wiih me at Tai- 
o-hae — I will give them land, and build a large 
house for them." The chief then observed 
that they had a great many gods, he could not 
tell how many; that he would be a god him- 
self at death. Mr. Stewart gave him to un- 
derstand that they were not good for anything, 
and tried to turn the chiefs attention to the 
Lord Jesus Christ, and Jehovah. At length 
the chief exclaimed, " Mo-ta-ki ! mo-ta-ki ! 
Je-ho-va te At-u-a no ma-tu-a." " Good ! 
good ! Jehovah (is or shall be) our God." 

Lucy. O, how 1 long to hear from those of 
our missionaries who will be the pioneers of 
the first mission to those islands. I shall read 
the Missionary Herald with great interest, and 
lay a great many plans to raise funds for the 
support of a large number of missionaries to 
those islands. 






PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 101 

Helen. And I will help you execute 
them. 

Ann. And so will I. 

Mrs. B. We will all help. 

Hugh. If all the Sabbath schools in the 
United States should follow the example set by 
the one in the West parish of Andover, in 
forming a " Sabbath School Missionary Soci- 
ety" the world might soon be filled with the 
knowledge and glory of God. 

Lucy. Our superintendent read the ac- 
count of it from the Sabbath School Treas- 
ury, and expressed his determination to follow 
in the steps of the gentleman at the head of 
that school ; and all the teachers promised to 
sustain him in carrying the plan into execu- 
tion. 

Hugh. Superintendents who are favored 
with the confidence and affection of their 
teachers and scholars, can carry into effect 
any plan, and accomplish almost as much 
good, as the most benevolent heart can de- 
sire. 

Mrs. B. We can all do a vastly greater 
amount of good than we ever have done, if 
we' " rouse up all our drowsy powers." The 
former indifference of my own children to 
missionary movements, was entirely my own 
fault ; for since I have felt more myself, and 



102 PROSPECTIVE MISSIONS. 

ft 

conversed with them upon missionary topics, 
and read, or heard them read, the Missionary 
Herald, and Baptist Magazine, they are full of 
zeal for the heathen, and cheerfully deny them- 
selves, and redeem time from sleep and play, 
to promote the cause in one way or other. 
And in addition, I can truly say, that I have 
enjoyed more in religion, since I commenced 
this course to draw forth their benevolent af- 
fections, than since your uncle Barton's 
death. 

Hugh. I believe, aunt, if every Christian 
mother should adopt the same course, she 
would have reason to say the same. Jane, 
you and Robert may come and answer ques- 
tions. 

What is said of the dancing- exhibitions ? How many per- 
formers were there ? How were they dressed ? What is said of 
the idol gods ? What of the men who pretend to be sick ? Who 
are cannibals? Do the natives of the Washington islands wish 
to receive missionaries ? What else can you remember ? 



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